Actor Park Bo-gum is recording the first episode of KBS' late-night music program “The Seasons: Park Bo-gum's Cantabile.” Courtesy of KBS

Actor Park Bo-gum will host “The Seasons: Park Bo-gum's Cantabile,” the seventh season of KBS' late-night music program “The Seasons.” As a host who continues the legacy of KBS's late-night music program with more than 30 years of history, Park's determination was extraordinary. “Right now, I feel like a newbie,” he said.

At a press event of “The Seasons: Park Bo-gum's Cantabile,” held at KBS Art Hall in Seoul on March 11, Park said, “The show came with a warm spring. I hope it will be an opportunity and a space where people can be comforted by music and have a good time with each other.” The name “Cantabile” was given by Park himself. Cantabile is a musical term meaning “as if singing.” It means to play the melody in a beautiful and flowing style, con espressione.

“The Seasons” is a TV show that is hosted by a new host every season. It began in February 2023 with “Jay Park’s Drive,” which was followed by “Choi Jung-hoon's Night Park,” “Long Day, Long Night with AKMU,” Lee Hyo-ri's Red Carpet,” “Zico's Artist,” and “Lee Young-ji's Rainbow.”
“Park Bo-gum's Cantabile” will be the seventh season of “The Seasons,” but the show has a long history in that it continues KBS late-night music programs such as "No Young-sim’s Small Concert (1992-1994),” "Lee Moon-sae Show (1995-1996),” " Lee Sora's Propose (1996-2002),” "Yoon Do-hyun's Love Letter (2002-2008),” and "Yu Hee-yeol's Sketchbook (2009-2022).”

“I grew up watching the hosts who came before me. I'm honored to take this position,” Park said at the press event. “I’m preparing new things little by little, hoping that it will be a happy musical journey for everyone.” He said he is producing a theme song for the show with Jung Dong-hwan, the bandmaster of the show. Park also said he would recommend music to the audience every week.

However, the low viewer ratings are a challenge. The previous seasons of “The Seasons” have recorded viewership ranging between 0 to 1 percent. Even at the press event, there were questions about the lackluster ratings.

The show’s producer Choi Seung-hee said, “I'm weighing it heavily and thinking a lot about various things,” but also said, “If I thought that ratings were the only important indicator, I wouldn't have introduced rookies at 10 p.m. every weekend when there is so much competition for ratings.” She added, “Other channels are broadcasting tens of billions of won worth of TV series at 10 p.m. on Fridays,” referring to the time when “The Seasons” airs. “We're making the show with production costs of 30 years ago, with the feeling that we're protecting the last bastion of music programs.”

The producer said, “We think that the identity, the cause and the meaning of a music program is really important. We see great value in introducing new singers and meaningful people and giving them a stage to stand on.” She added, "Of course, We know very well that we are living in an era where we cannot only talk about values. We take the criticism (of low ratings) to heart, so please watch with affection.”

The first episode will be aired at 10 p.m. on March 14. Noh Young-shim, Sunwoo Junga, and Kwak Dong-yeon, Kim Yoo-jung, and Jin-young, who appeared together with Park in the KBS TV series "Love in the Moonlight," and Jung Joon-il, and HxW (SEVENTEEN’s Hoshi and Woozi) will appear as guests in the first episode. Former host Lee Young-ji will also make a surprise appearance. Park will rewrite IU's song "Friday" and sing "Gumday." The show airs every Friday at 10 p.m. on KBS 2TV.